A Trainer's JourneyApril Fool's Chapter
by mega-lizardon-x
Summary: This is the April Fool's chapter I had posted in place of the actual eleventh chapter of A Trainer's Journey.


A Trainer's Journey-April Fool's Chapter

Here's that April Fool's chapter I had posted yesterday. Most of it is the same as the actual eleventh chapter of A Trainer's Journey up until a certain point. So you can skip ahead.

* * *

><p>The sun shone in my eyes, rousing me. I let out a breath and opened them. The sky was overcast, with a few patched where the clouds didn't meet, allowing the sun to shine through. I blinked and rubbed my eyes before sitting up, letting out a big yawn. I noticed that Miranda's small, one-person tent was gone, and so was she. A soft rustling got my attention. On my other side was a piece of paper, held down with a rock. I took the paper and read it.<p>

_I'm gonna get going now, guys. Sorry, but I have to find my Pokemon. Maybe we'll meet up later? Take care. _

_ -Miranda_

"Wonder what Pokemon it was..."

Karen stirred, yawned and sat up.

"Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Ha, ha, very funny." She glanced around groggily. "Where's Miranda?"

I handed her the sheet of paper. She quickly read it over before handing it back. "Wonder what Pokemon it was. She never did tell us, did she?"

"Nope."

"Well, there's not much use hanging around here. Let's get on going."

"I'm usually the one to say that."

"Well, I'm just that awesome."

* * *

><p>Darkness. Tiny pinpricks of light began to dot his vision, chasing away the dark. All he could see was a blend of colors, consisting mostly of browns. The boy blinked slowly once, twice, clearing his vision. The endless blurring of colors faded into recognizable objects-a table, two chairs, a bare shelf on the opposite wall, and a mini fridge. He moved his head and groaned at the sharp pain in his neck. He seemed to have slept all twisted. He slowly sat up, his head swimming and his vision blurring again. He glanced around at the rest of the small cabin. Well, it was more of a shack, really.<p>

He shakily stood and grabbed onto the bars of the cage he was in to steady himself. He glanced around again when he noticed that he was alone.

"Where'd they go?" he mumbled. As he spoke his voice cracked slightly, emphasizing the thirst he felt.

He spotted a bottle of water on the table, and wondered how he hadn't seen it before. His throat suddenly felt much dryer than before as he stared at the bottle. He looked around for anything he could use to bring the water bottle closer to him. He saw a wire hanger on the floor some distance from the bars.

"How convenient."

The boy crouched down and reached an arm past the bars to get the hanger. He couldn't quite reach it, so he shifted himself and reached as far as he could. His fingers brushed against it. He reached just a little farther and managed to pull the hanger over to him. He stood up, undoing it and straightening it as much as possible. When he was satisfied with it, he extended his arm between the bars and reached for the bottle with the hanger's hook end. Fortunately, the table wasn't too far away. He managed to hook onto the bottle and pull if off. It tumbled to the floor and he rolled it over to the cage. He instantly scooped it up and frantically twisted the cap off. He brought the bottle to his parched lips and drank.

The cool liquid rushed down his dry throat, soothing it to a degree he never would have imagined possible. Within seconds, all of the water was gone. He frowned at the empty bottle before tossing it aside.

"That hits the spot," he muttered.

The last time he had had anything to drink was the night before, and if the sunlight streaming in through the window was any indication, it was well into the afternoon. He sighed and slumped to the floor. At least one of the two had been merciful enough to give him a blanket, which he had folded up and now rested his head upon. He gingerly probed his lip as hr stared at the ceiling. The swelling brought on by being split was gone for the most part, but it still hurt like hell, especially whenever his captors had thrown together a sandwich, tossed at him and he at it. A loud rumbling suddenly erupted. He looked down at his stomach disdainfully sighed again. _What I wouldn't give for a hamburger right about now._

He tried to think about how long he had been stuck here. All the days had blended together, one seeming no more different than the rest, so he wasn't really sure, but... A week, give or take.

"What do they want from me?"

In the week he had been held captive, the two hadn't said anything about why they kept him here. Although, thinking back, he could vaguely remember the one that had attacked him saying something about finding some "little brats" for payback. But he had been half asleep, so he had just chalked it up to his imagination. He wondered who those brats were, if he had heard correctly.

Suddenly, the boy remembered the one that hit him had been rolling a Pokeball in his hand, muttering that the Pokemon inside would have its chance at payback, too. That got him thinking about his own Pokeballs. The two had taken them and left them in a bowl that was in plain sight on the bookshelf that stood on the other side of the shack. There was no way he could get to them, no matter how hard he tried. Right now, his mind was too muddled by hunger to think clearly and formulate any plan for escape.

With little else to do, Gary turned on his side and tried to sleep some more.

* * *

><p>The path wound on through Route 3, and it began to be more rocky the further we went. Occasionally, a boulder would dot the side of the road. My foot kicked a stray rock again, sending it rolling into a bush. I glanced over as a Rattata poked its head out, chittered at me for disturbing it, and darted off. My eyes then went to Karen as she walked beside me, eating a Pecha berry bigger than my fist. My gaze went to the fruit and I began to wonder just how the hell a berry could get that big.<p>

Karen noticed me staring at the berry. "What's wrong? You want some?"

"No."

"That's a lie."

"It's the truth."

"You barely ate anything this morning!"

"I wasn't hungry."

"Well you gotta eat _something_."

"But I'm not hungry."

"Here, take a bite if you want," she said, holding the berry out.

"I don't want to."

Karen sighed, lowering the fruit. "Why must you be so difficult, Jack?"

"Why must you be so stubborn, Karen?" I retorted.

We mock-glared at one another before laughing.

"But seriously, take a bite," Karen said when her laughter died down.

"We just went through this," I sighed.

"Alright, fine," she said, pouting, "Don't take a bite. But if you starve to death, it wasn't my fault."

"Always so dramatic," I muttered.

"What was that?"

"I didn't say anything."

"Yeah, you did."

"Nope."

Karen narrowed her eyes. "I'm watching you."

"How terrifying."

She huffed at my deadpan sarcasm before turning back down the path and taking another bite of the berry.

Not even five minutes later, "Just take a bite."

My eye twitched but I kept my gaze ahead. "We've been through this."

"Just take one little, itty-bitty bite. Please?"

I glanced at her.

That was a mistake.

Her lower lip was stuck out and trembling, and her eyes were wide and round. Any resistance I had crumbled right then and there. Damn puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine," I snapped, snatching the berry she held out and bit into it. My teeth sank into it and juice spurted into my mouth. I chewed, swallowed, and stared at the berry. _My God, that was delicious. _I noticed Karen watching me expectantly. I chomped once more, taking away almost half of it, before giving it back.

"Hey!"

"You said I could have some."

"I said you could have a little, itty-bitty bite, not the whole damn thing!"

"That was a little itty-bitty bite."

"You call this 'itty-bitty'?" She shoved the Pecha berry in my face and I bit it once more, grinning.

"Hey!"

* * *

><p>The two men in black watched the two kids as they bickered over a Pecha berry. The girl in the white hate kept offering it to him and the boy with the red cap kept refusing. Finally, the boy gave in and ate almost half of the enormous berry.<p>

One of the two men narrowed his eyes in contempt of the boy. The little shit was going to pay. When he had kicked his and his partner's asses almost a month ago, they went back to their base, humiliated, and were promptly put on shit patrol for failing such a simple mission. All of the other grunts would taunt and jeer at them for being beat up by a kid.

But then he found a chance to to do something about the kid. They had followed the kids to make sure they were secluded before moving in. But then they had come across that other spikey-haired little shit, and it made it all the sweeter when they ambushed him and locked him up. First, they would take care of these two, then they would figure out what to do with the other one. With his newly acquired Moon Stone, he beefed up one of his Pokemon, and with it, he would take his vengeance.

That Pokemon stood by him. The horned behemoth growled softly, claws twitching in anticipation, long tail swishing. The grunt looked it over proudly, smirking.

"Um, Andrew, I don't think this is such a good idea," his partner whispered from behind him.

"Shut the fuck up, Ryan," Andrew growled, "I know what I'm doing."

Ryan closed his mouth and shrank back a bit.

Andrew turned back to the two kids as they started walking again. He patted his Pokemon's thick hide and said two words.

"Kill them."

* * *

><p>"I tell him to get a tiny bite, and what does he do? He eats half of it," Karen grumbled as she walked just ahead of me.<p>

We slowed down when we felt the earth rumble beneath us and stopped when an ungodly roar erupted from the trees. Our heads snapped to the left just as a huge creature burst forth, knocking over two trees.

"What the hell?" Karen shouted.

I suddenly noticed the violet Pokemon was coming straight for us.

"Karen, move!"

She seemed rooted to the spot in fear, so I tackled her to the ground. The Pokemon barreled past, narrowly avoiding stepping on us with one of its huge feet. I stood, helping Karen to her feet as the Pokemon stopped and turned to us. It was well over seven feet tall. It stood on two feet and was purple all over, with a dark green inside its large ears. Spikes ran up its back and my eyes were drawn to the enormous horn on its forehead. It growled, baring its sharp teeth, one of which protruded from its mouth, even when it was closed. I knew of the Pokemon, but had never actually seen one. I was in awe of the towering behemoth.

The Nidoking growled once more before opening it jaws, a yellow-orange ball of energy forming.

My eyes widened in shock and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

"Oh my God, it's gonna...!" Karen cried.

I grabbed her hand and ran just as the ball shot outward in a powerful beam. The ground behind us exploded and we stumbled, but regained our footing and took cover behind a tree

"Did it just use Hyper Beam?" Karen asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, I think so," I replied.

"Why did it attack us?"

"I don't-"

The tree was suddenly yanked straight out of the ground and tossed aside like a stick. I shoved Karen away as the Nidoking swiped a claw down. I jumped back and promptly stumbled and fell back. The Nidoking yanked its claw out of the grass and came after me, repeatedly slashing down at me. I frantically crawled backward, each of its attacks just missing me. Finally, as a final effort to get me, it descended, head down. Another jump back saved me as the Nidoking's horn embedded itself in the ground between my splayed legs.

I scrambled to my feet and sprinted away, onto the rocky path. The Nidoking shoved aside two trees and opened its mouth again. The ball of energy formed and it fired, and the Hyper Beam tore up the ground right behind me. I stumbled and the Pokemon fired again. I threw myself to the dirt and the beam passed overhead. I jumped back up and warily watched the Pokemon. It seemed exhausted, panting and bent over, supporting itself with a single hand on the ground. I quickly thought over my options. Nidoking were know for being territorial, which could explain why this one attacked. But looking at it, it had this look in its eye that suggested it wasn't just trying to drive us away. It must have come after Karen and I for a reason. So running away wouldn't do any good, it would only chase after us.

That left one option: we were going to have to fight.

I brought out my Pokemon as the Nidoking managed to catch its breath and reared back up. It opened its mouth to fire Hyper Beam again and I commanded Charmander to use Ember. The fireballs-which were now about as big as both of my fists together-flew into the Poison Pokemon's mouth. The Nidoking snapped its jaws closed and began hacking. It roared its anger and charged, head down. We jumped out of the way as it ran past and its horn went straight into a tree. It struggled to free its deeply embedded horn, then, with a snarl, clamped onto the trunk, and _pulled_. The entire tree, taller than the Nidoking, came up out of the soil, roots and all. My mouth fell open when, in a display of enormous strength, the Nidoking pulled the tree down around its horn and it snapped right in half. It then whirled and tossed the two pieces of it at us. I only barely managed to duck in time and the pieces crashed into the forest.

Karen ran up next to me, looking panicked. "Jack, recall your Pokemon! Let's get out of here!"

"I don't think we'll be able to." I quickly explained my reasoning to her.

She thought it over for a second before nodding, jaw set. "Makes sense. Well, then..." She brought out her own Pokemon. "Let's do this, Jack."

The Nidoking had bent over again, panting. Now, he stood upright, opened its jaws and a stream of flamed erupted forth.

"Oh crap!"

Karen and I jumped out of the way of the flames.

"It knows _Flamethrower_!" Karen shouted

The Nidoking reared back, mouth open, and spewed the flames at us again.

"Thundershock!"

Electricity sparked forward from Rattata and our Pikachu, meeting the flamethrower head on. The fire and electricity collided, halting each other's advances. We were at a standstill, neither one wanting to back down and the Nidoking obviously wanting to press forward.

"Jack, what do we do?" Karen had to shout to be hear over the crackling of the elemental attacks.

My eyes flitted over the scene. Rattata seemed to be tiring keeping up the Thundershock, while our Pikahcu seemed just fine. I figured it had something to do with Rattata some being the same type as the attack. Nidoking seemed to be tiring also. I could only wonder how it was able to fire off so many Hyper Beams so quickly, and why it only now started to seem exhausted. Then my eyes snapped to the Pokemon's attack's point of collision. The electricity was slowly snaking its way up the stream of flames, heading toward the Nidoking.

"There!" I said, pointing.

Karen must have seen it, too, because we both encourage our Pokemon to push harder. Slowly, the Thundershock overcame the Flamethrower, and the electricity coursed up to the Nidoking, and in a few seconds made contact. The large Pokemon immediately ceased its attack and began convulsing. The muscle spasms faded after a few seconds, and while I knew Electric attacks wouldn't hurt the dual Poison-Ground-type, maybe they could slow it down.

"Pikachu, Thundershock!" I commanded when the Nidoking began to charge again. My Pikachu's cheeks sparked and a bolt of electricity flew at the Poison Pokemon. It halted and convulsed, and I saw my chance.

"Rattata, Charmander, Iron Tail!"

My Pokemon rushed forward and slammed their tails into the Nidoking with enough force to knock it down. The Nidoking scrambled up and this time Karen's Pikachu attacked. Again, the Nidoking stopped, overcome with muscle spasms, leaving open for a triple Iron Tail from my Pokemon. This time, though, all that it did was send the Nidoking stumbling. It whirled, the telltale ball of energy forming in its mouth.

"Pidgey, Gust!" Karen cried.

Pidgey began vigorously flapping her wings, kicking up a sizable whirlwind. The Nidoking roared, bringing up an arm over its face. I was about to tell Karen to have Pidgey stop because it didn't seem to do anything, but then the Nidoking uncovered its face and fire Hyper Beam at the little bird. The powerful attack slammed into her, knocking her out of the air.

"Pidgey!" Karen screamed. She ran over to where the bird fell at the base of a tree and picked her up. "Pidgey, are you okay?"

The ground suddenly exploded in front me and our Pikachu, and for several terrifying seconds I couldn't see or hear anything. All that took over my vision was white, and there was ringing in my ears. I breath when they faded and I could see and hear properly. But then I jerked in shock when I saw where I was-ten feet away from where I had been standing, a large crater on the ground in front of that spot.

And both of our Pikachu unmoving some distance away from it.

"Pikachu!" Karen and I shouted at the same time.

I grit my teeth, pushing myself up to my knees. I suddenly noticed Charmander at my side. The Nidoking snarled, panting, but otherwise seeming unharmed. I looked down at my starter when I heard him give a snarl of his own.

"Charmander?"

I only watched in surprise when he took off for the Nidoking.

"Charmander, no! It's too strong!"

Heedless of my cry, Charmander charged the much larger Pokemon. Afraid that he would be severely injured, I snatched up his Pokeball from my belt and recalled him into it.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

I looked back up as the Nidoking snarled. Karen recalled her Pidgey and Pikachu and came to stand next to me, my Rattata and her Bulbasaur standing in front of us.

"Think we can beat it, Jack?" she whispered. Despite the brave front she had on, I could hear the trembling in her voice.

I tried to make my own voice sound as confident as I hoped I looked. "Yeah."

We nodded to each other.

"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip!"

"Rattata, Thundershock!"

The bolt of electricity arced toward the Nidoking, causing it to convulse again as Bulbasaur whipped it with her vines. The Poison Pokemon recovered, though, and with a show of speed, grabbed one of Bulbasaur's vines. It yanked, pulling Karen's starter toward it.

"Bulbasaur!"

The Nidoking swung Karen's starter around and around, before slamming her into the dirt.

"No!"

The Nidoking then turned to us, the ball of energy forming in its mouth again.

"Thundershock!"

I was too late, though, and the Hyper Beam came at us. The beam hit the ground right in front of us and exploded. I was blind and deaf again, and felt the sickening sinking of my stomach that suggested I was airborne. A second later I hit the dirt hard, knocking the breath out of me. I rolled to a stop, blinking hard to be able to see again. When I finally could, my stomach dropped. Rattata lay unmoving beneath a tree, blood flecking his mouth. And Karen lay sprawled some thirty feet away. I tried calling her name, but my throat felt dry all of a sudden. Then my heart leaped into my throat.

The Nidoking was approaching her, ground rumbling at each step.

Karen slowly crawled toward a Pokeball, probably Bulbasaur's, and seemed unaware of the approaching Nidoking.

"No!" I shouted.

The Nidoking finally reached her and raised a large foot. It stomped on Karen as she tried to stand. There was a sickening crack and Karen screamed.

"No, leave her alone!" I began crawling toward them.

The Nidoking eyed her for a moment before picking her up in one hand. Tears were streaming down her face. She had cut her lip and a bit of blood trickled out. Her eyes went to me.

"Help me, Jack!"

It lifted her to its eye level, growling. The bushes across the road from me rustled and two figures stepped out. They were dressed in black, with a red R on their chests. Team Rocket. But these weren't just any grunts. I recognized them.

They were the ones that had attacked Gary on Route 22.

"You!"

"Surprised?" one of them asked, smirking. He turned to the Nidoking. "Finish her."

"No!"

The Pokemon raised Karen, who was now sobbing, just a little higher and thrust its head forward. Its horn went straight into Karen's stomach and clear to the other side. Karen stiffened as blood immediately began soaking her light blue top.

"_Karen!_"

She gurgled, blood falling from her mouth. She placed her hands on the horn that had penetrated her straight through her midsection. I could only watch as the blood kept coming, the stain spreading on her top, her life ebbing way. She looked at me one final time, eyes unfocused. Her hand reached out toward me, and my vision was blurred by tears.

"Help... me, Jack..." she rasped before going limp.

The tears spilled over, falling down my cheeks in rivulets as the Nidoking yanked her off of its blood-stained horn and tossed her to the dirt. I jumped up and ran toward the Pokemon. I didn't know what I was doing, didn't know what I could possibly do to such a large Pokemon. I was blinded by the sudden immeasurable grief and white-hot rage to think straight.

Then there was a bang and a horrible pain ripped through my leg, slicing through my haze. I fell to a knee and glanced at the other one. My jeans were torn and seeped in blood, the flesh on my knee shredded. I looked over at the Team Rocket grunts, at the one that held a gun pointed at me.

I looked back at the Nidoking as it opened its mouth and flames burst forth, enveloping Karen.

"_NOOO!_"

"One down..." the grunt holding the gun announced, smirking.

The haze came back, washing over me until I felt nothing but blinding rage.

"_You son of a bitch!_" I screamed, jumping up and running at him. The bullet in my knee ground against the bone as I moved, fresh pain ripping through my knee but I ignored it as I charged.

The grunt's eyebrows shot up, probably not expecting me to rush him like this. I punched him as hard as I could possibly could, shattering his nose and causing blood to burst out. He cried out and I swung to hit him again. He blocked it, though, and hit me with the pistol in the side of my head, knocking me away. He aimed and fired several times, the bullets entering my flesh and jerking me back and forth. The last one hit my chest, going in deep.

I fell on my back, blood seeping into my clothes as I struggled to breath. I couldn't be sure, but it felt as though the last one hit my lung. Every time took a breath I would feel a sharp agony in my chest. I coughed up blood as the grunt approached me. I glanced over at Karen's burning body and fresh tears sprang forth. I looked away, unable to handle the sight of my best friend burning.

The grunt raised the gun, aiming at my face. "Payback, you little shit."

Fury bubbled up my my chest like the blood out of my mouth. "I hope you burn in hell." The words were spat out among droplets of blood.

He grinned. "Good night."

He pulled the trigger.

Darkness.


End file.
